Feeding and Watering

Feeding
Honeybees need to be fed periodically to supplement their natural food sources.  Bees require a high-carbohydrate, high-protein diet, which is naturally gleaned from nectar and pollen.  But there will be times when adequate food supplies are not naturally available, so you may need to feed the bees just to keep them from starving.  There are other times when you need to supplement their diet to encourage comb building and brood production, including:

• You have installed a package of bees in a new hive

• You are preparing for requeening

• You are preparing the colony for winter

• During early spring when the hive population has dwindled

• When a colony is weak and needs to increase its population

The frequency with which you supplement your bees' diet is determined by the situation at hand.  In general, performing periodic apiary inspections will tell you whether the bees need to be fed.  The following sections give you more information on specific food, how it is prepared, and when to administer it.  You may feed your colonies multiple types of food at the same time if they need it.

	Sugar Syrup A honeybee colony needs to be fed a sugar-water solution, or sugar syrup, when it is first introduced into a new hive.  Syrup is used as a means for administration of medication or to stimulate comb and brood production in a weak hive.  Syrup is also required during a period of nectar dearth, such as during the early spring or during a prolonged drought.  And if you are replacing the queen (requeening), it is important to administer syrup one day before the old queen is removed and continue feeding for at least a week after the new queen is installed.
	Pollen Substitute A pollen substitute is any material that can adequately replace pollen in the honeybee's diet, and typically includes soybean flour, powdered skim milk, brewer's yeast, or a mixture of these.  Substitutes are used in place of pollen to stimulate brood rearing in periods of pollen shortage, such as early spring or during a drought.  Pollen substitutes are also needed during the first two weeks after installing a package of bees or a swarm in an empty hive.  And substitutes are invaluable in a more arid environment where there is little or no natural pollen during a portion of the foraging season.
	Pollen Supplement A pollen supplement may be administered at any time to stimulate brood production.  This is especially important during a time of nectar dearth (when there is no natural source of pollen for the bees to collect) or when the bee colony is first introduced into a new hive.  However, pollen substitutes are generally preferred as a more general-purpose, complete pollen replacement.  Pollen supplements are more commonly used to encourage brood development, as they are commonly prepared in patty form to be placed in the hive.  However, supplements do not always provide complete nutrition as a pollen substitute.  When in doubt, use a pollen substitute. See also: Pollen Substitutes vs. Supplements
	Grease and Extender Patties BeeCARE recommends feeding grease patties all year round, even during the winter, to combat tracheal mites.  When mixed with terramycin, a grease patty is called an extender patty, and is also used to control American and European foulbrood.

Note: If your hives are infested with Small Hive Beetles (SHB), you should immediately remove and discontinue using all supplemental food inside the hives, including sugar syrup, grease patties, extender patties and pollen patties.  The syrup and patties are a rich food source for the beetles, encouraging their rapid spread throughout the honeybee colony.  The presence of supplemental food within the hive makes SHB control very difficult and endangers both honey production and the colony's survival.  A better alternative is to use an external bucket feeder for dry feeding, in or near the apiary, which may be used to administer dry sugar, pollen substitutes and terramycin soluble powder.

Watering

Boardman Feeder used for watering Watering Honeybees require a reliable source of relatively clean, non-toxic water during the normal foraging season.

American foulbrood
Dual-Access Hive-top Feeder
European foulbrood
Honeybee Medications
Opening and Inspecting the Hive
Opening and Feeding the Hive
Preparing to Visit the Apiary
Refilling Syrup
Spring Dwindling

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